Cooperating means for banjo-heads



`LoUIs I.. KENYON, or IOWA CITY, IOWA.

rC013EIRLA'IIII'G MEANS FOR BANJO-HEADS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 10, 1920.

Application mea May 2s, 1920. serial No. 384,994.

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, LoUIsL. KENYON, a citizen of the United. Statearesiding at Iowa City, in the county of Johnson and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cooperating Means for Banjo-Heads; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention embodies attachments for and the manner of applying the same to the heads of that type of stringed musical instruments broadly which employ a parchment or gut cover stretched over-an otherwise open rim support for enhancing the sound vibrations of its associated attuned strings.

As the invention has been primarily devised, however, more especially with relation to improvements in cooperating` means for banjo heads, for the sake of brevity I shall only illustrate and describe the same with reference to that specicjnstrument.y

The invention may be said to broadly reside in the particular appliance itself as well as in the special manner of its attachment, whereby it dually functions both as to providing means for the delicate tautening of the parchment cover to theV desired pitch and more particularly the distribution of the vibratory motions to the woody parts of the instrument in conjunction with the more freely vibratory parchment, thereby toning off the sounds emitted to relieve them materially of the thumpy like twanging common to the banjo; but as these and other objects and advantages will be so clearly apparent, as incidental to the following disclosures, it would perhaps be only undesirable surplusage to further refer to the same initially, and with theseprefacing remarks, therefore, reference` will be immediatelylhad to the accompanying draw-v ings, illustrating a practical embodiment of the improvements, in which drawings Figure 1 is an inverted perspective view of the head of a banjo with the invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view with the head reversed and the section being taken along the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a crosssectional viewI taken in the plane of the line 3 3 of Fig. '2; and Figs. 4 and 5 are detached perspective views of the two adjustably coacting elements of the improved attachment.

5 designates the annular rim support of the banjo head, which is usually formed of metal, 6 is its fretted neck of seasoned wood, and 7 is a seasoned wooden strut bar forminga continuation of the neck,.within the rim, and providing a reinforcing intermediate element. 8 designates the parchment cover or head which is stretched over the `head rim, its securing and ordinary tautening means being indicated conventionally by the wedging hoop or band 10 in associa tionwith its engaging peripheral series of threaded adjusting rods 9, while 11 simply designates the bridge of the banjo and 12 the strings thereof, all of these features being old and well understood.

Referring now to the structural formation of my own improvements, 15 indicates one element of the attachment which has a straight flat base face 16, with a transversely disposed slot 17 opening to the opposite face and the side faces of the member,

which slot is slightly deeper at one end than at the other, thus providing an inclined plane surfaced bottom therefor.

The other element of the `attachment is Y an elongated member of uniform thickness `should'be formed of wood, although other kinds of suitable material might later be found to satisfactorily answer the purpose, and when they are tted'together itis to be observed that the inclined edge face 19 of the wedge piece is disposed downwardly in the slot 17 to slidingly bear against the inclined face of the latter, with the large end 22 ofthe wedge piece projecting from that end of the slot that is the deepest, so that the straight edge face 20 of the wedge piece will be constantly parallel to the plane of the face 16 of the slotted member.

In carryingout my invention inpits entirety the slotted member 15 is so positioned on the strut bar 7, with the fiat base 16 of the former seating upon the upper face of the latter, that when the wedge piece is inserted in the slot7 and forced home, its straight edge face 2O will snugly engage the underneath tace ot' the parchment head 8 at a position substantially distant from the position ot the bridge member 1l resting upon the upper face of the parchment head. Furthermore, the members should be so disposed that the large end Q2 of the wedge piece will vbe in the uppermost position, when the instrument is being played upon, in order to more positively insure the elements being held intact against displacement from any vibratory causes. Y

In actual practice, I find that the best results appear to be attained when the wedge piece Ais disposed at a position approximately three-eighths ot an inch to the rear of the bridge piece, and from there on in a lesser degree as the attachment is moved 'farther rearwardly when the Vtones again begin to resolve themselves into those of the regularly played banjo with the ordinary thumpy twanging.

.It seems that at this particular position, of three-eighths ot an inch behind the lnidge, although` the particular position may vary slightly with diiierent sized heads, a clearer, purer and sweeter musical resonance results.

It is my understanding that this is caused by the vibrations being so distributed, by way of the improved bridging-over appliance interposed between theV parchment head and the strut bar, that they are proportionately divided between both the neck and the head, instead of the parchment head alone vibrating as heretofore, whereby there results al more harmoniously sweet woody tone in conjunction with the banjo effect proper, excepting that the thumpy discordant sounds of the latter are entirely eliminated. In other words, by this arrangement it would appear that sufficient vibratory motion. is provided Jfor the parchment head itself, to retain the rgular banjo tones minus the thumpingf whereas enough wood vibration is also brought into action, through the interposed parts and neck, to combine proportionately with the other and thus producing the more desirable dulcet tones sought ior. it any event, whether or not I have exactly stated the proper reasons therefor, experimental use has assuredly demonstrated to me at least that my discovery is of superior importance in point of preserving the purity of tone values.

Another important advantage of this arrangement is that it enables the performer to play with a pick or vplectrum much more effectively, no doubt due to the more or less restricted vibration ot the parchment head per se, it being observed that somewhat rof n a dampering eifect is imposed thereon .by

placing lthe supporting wedge piece at position outside oi the plane of the bridge piece 11, without actually muiiling or inuting the resonant characteristics of the parchment head for proper tone enhancement.

A still further important advantage oit my improvements is that, owing to the adjustable wedging action of the member i8, the tautucss of the parchment or gut head membrane may be so regulated to a niccty that the instrument may be properly attuned even with a moderately tight head, whereas otherwise the instruments parchment has to be strained almost to the breaking point in order to get the best results. In consequence, the life of a banjo head, provided with my attachment, would bc indefinitely prolonged, in comparison with the ordinary banjo heads, on account vof the lessening of strains thereon.

Having thus made a 'full disclosure of my invention as at present practised, and while the improved attachment is simplicity itself, nevertheless it will be understood that I do not wish to unnecessarily restrict myself to the exact details as shown and described, excepting as limitations ymay kbe imposed bythe terms and scope 4of the ensuing claims, when fairly interpreted in the light ot the specification and understood equivalents.

lV hat I do claim, as :new and patentable,

is :N

l. The combination with `a banjo, or analogous musical instrument embodying a rim support, a parchment head therefor, a neck, a strut bar within said rim and `providing a continuation of said neck, and a string bridge seated on said head; of a wedge member yhaving an inclined underneath edge face and a straight upper edge face transversely interposed between said head and said strut lbar, with its straight ledge face directly engaging the underneath face of said head and its inclined edge face adjustably supported by said strut bar, substantially asdescribed. 2. The combi-nation with a banjo, or analogous musical instrument embodying a rim support, a parchment head therefor, a neck, a strut bar within said rim and providing a continuation ot said neck, and a string bridge seated on said head; of a wedge member having an inclined 4underneath edge face `and a straight upper edge face transversely interposed between said lhead and said strut bar at a position substantially distant from the position of said bridge element, lthe said wedge member having its straight edge tace directly engaging the underneath face of said head and its inclined edge face adjustably supported by said strut bar, substantially as described.

3. The combination with -a banjo, or analogous musical instrument :embodying arim support, a parchment head therefor, a neck, a strut `bar within said rim and providing a ogous musical instrument embodying a rim .f

support, a parchment head therefor, a neck, a strut bar within said rim andprovlding a continuation of said neck, and a strlng bridge seated on said head; of a base membeiI supported by said strut bar and having a transverse open slot providing aninclined bottom face; and a wedge member having a straight upper edge face and an inclined underneath edge face, the said pair of members being so adjustably associated, and interposed between said head and said strut bar that the straight edge face of the wedge piece transversely extends in direct engagement with the underneath face of said head while its inclined edge face'is slidingly supported within said slot, substantially as described.

5. The combination with a banjo, or analogous musical instrument embodying a rim support, la parchment head therefor, a neck, a strut bar within said rim and providing a continuation of said neck, and a string bridge seated on said head; of a base member supported by said strut bar and having a transverse open slot providing an inclined bottomface; and a wedge member having a straight upper edge face and an incline underneath edgeface, the said pair of members being so adjustably associated and interposed between said head and said strut bar that the straight edge face of the wedge piece transversely extends in direct engagement with the underneath face of said head, at a position substantially distant from the position of said bridge element, while its inclined edge face is slidingly supported within said slot, substantially as described.

6. The combination with a banjo, or analogous musical instrument embodying a rim support, a parchment head therefor, a neck,

a strut bar within said rim and providing a continuation of said neck, and a string bridge seated on said head; of a base member supported by said strut bar and having a transverse open slot providing an inclined bottom face; and a wedge member having a straight ed e upper face and an inclined underneath e ge face, the said pair of members being so adjustably associated and interposed between said head and said strut LOUIS L. K N ON. 

